Closing The Gender Gap: 800 Mn Women Need To Adopt Mobile Internet By 2030
A new report has revealed that over 800 million women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) must adopt mobile internet by 2030 to bridge the digital gender gap.
According to findings of the GSMA report, women in LMICs are currently 19 per cent less likely than men to use mobile internet, resulting in approximately 310 million fewer women than men being connected. This disparity highlights the urgent need for enhanced efforts from various stakeholders to address the issue. Unfortunately, progress in reducing the mobile internet gender gap has slowed, with only 60 million women adopting mobile internet in 2022, compared to 75 million in 2021.
The report further revealed that approximately 900 million women in LMICs still lack access to mobile broadband, with two-thirds of them residing in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, expressed concerns around slowing progress of women's digital inclusion. “Mobile phones are the primary, and often only, source of internet access in LMICs, particularly in rural communities, so it’s alarming to see women’s digital inclusion slow for the second year in a row,” he said.
Around 250 million fewer women than men own smartphones in LMICs. Affordability, literacy and digital skills, and safety and security concerns continue to hinder women's adoption of mobile internet.
Despite these barriers, the report highlights that once women own smartphones, their awareness and usage of mobile internet are nearly on par with men. It emphasises the significant benefits that mobile ownership and mobile internet usage can bring to women, their families, the economy and businesses.
“Greater collaboration across all stakeholders in the digital community, from governments to operators, NGOs to internet companies, is needed to enable more women to access and use mobile internet and ultimately ensure women are not being left behind in an increasingly digital world,” Granryd added.
